Ex-'Survivor' contestant Caleb Bankston dies in train mishap

Reality star Loredana Nesci, 47, was found dead in her California home on Wednesday, July 22. Redondo Beach police said they suspect foul play and are investigating the death as a homicide.

Hide Caption

1 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Anthony Riley, a contestant on the eighth season of "The Voice," died on June 5 at age 28, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hide Caption

2 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

"Food Network Star" contestant Cristie Schoen Codd, 38, was five months pregnant when she and her husband, Joseph Codd, 45, went missing in March. A North Carolina man, Robert Jason Owens, is accused of killing them.

Hide Caption

3 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Ahmad Givens, best known as "Real" from the VH1 dating series "Real Chance of Love," died in February after battling colon cancer, the network said. She was 33.

Hide Caption

4 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Actor and fitness expert Greg Plitt died on January 17 after being hit by a train, police said. The 37-year-old retired U.S. Army Ranger Captain was known for his roles on Bravo reality television shows "Work Out" and "Friends to Lovers," the latter of which debuted a few days before his death.

Hide Caption

5 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

"Biggest Loser" contestant Damien Gurganious died on November 24 from an inoperable brain bleed caused by the sudden onset of a rare autoimmune disorder, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), his wife Nicole Gurganious said in a public Facebook post. Gurganious was 38.

Hide Caption

6 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Ryan Knight, who was part of the 2010 cast of MTV's "Real World New Orleans," died in November, according to police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police say that after the 28-year-old went out with friends on Thanksgiving, he was sleeping on the floor when someone noticed he was not breathing.

Hide Caption

7 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

MTV reality star Diem Brown died November 14 after a long battle with cancer. She was 32.

Hide Caption

8 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Singer and model Joanne Borgella, an "American Idol" contestant in 2008, died October 18 after a battle with cancer, according to her family. She was 32.

Hide Caption

9 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Simone Battle, an "X Factor" finalist and member of the group G.R.L., was found dead in a Los Angeles home on September 5, a coroner's spokesman said. She was 25.

Former "Survivor" contestant Caleb Bankston died while working on a coal train near Birmingham, Alabama, on June 24, 2014, a railway official confirmed to CNN. Bankston, a 27-year-old train conductor, was a contestant on "Survivor: Blood vs. Water" along with his fiance, Colton Cumbie, according to the CBS show's website.

Hide Caption

12 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Eric Hill, who was a contestant on "The Bachelorette," died in April 2014 from injuries suffered in a paragliding accident. Hill is seen here in a photo taken from his Facebook page. He was 31.

Hide Caption

13 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

"MasterChef" runner-up Joshua Marks was in "the battle of his life fighting mental illness" when he killed himself in October 2013, his family said. He was 26.

Hide Caption

14 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Gia Allemand, who appeared on Season 14 of ABC's "The Bachelor," died in August 2013, two days after an apparent suicide attempt, a statement released on behalf of her family said. She was 29.

Hide Caption

15 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Shain Gandee of MTV's "Buckwild" was found dead in April 2013 in Kanawha County, West Virginia, authorities said. The body of Gandee, 21, was discovered in a vehicle along with the bodies of his uncle, David Dwight Gandee, 48, and Donald Robert Myers, 27. It was later reported that the cause of death was accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

Hide Caption

16 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Joey Kovar, a cast member of "The Real World: Hollywood," died of a suspected drug overdose in August 2012. He was 29. Kovar also appeared on the third season of "Celebrity Rehab."

Hide Caption

17 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

"Swamp People" star Mitchell Guist, right, died in Louisiana in May 2012. The 47-year-old was working to build a houseboat when he appeared to have a seizure and fell backward in his boat, said Assumption Parish Sheriff Mike Waguespack. Another person, who did not want to be identified, performed CPR and called 911.

"Jackass" star Ryan Dunn was drunk and speeding up to 140 mph when his 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 crashed and caught fire on a Pennsylvania highway in June 2011, police said. The 34-year-old died from "blunt and thermal trauma" in the fiery crash, according to the autopsy report.

Hide Caption

20 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

New Jersey restaurant owner Joseph Cerniglia, who appeared on the first season of "Kitchen Nightmares," jumped from a bridge into New York's Hudson River in September 2010. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. He was 39.

Hide Caption

21 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Capt. Phil Harris of "Deadliest Catch" died in February 2010 at the age of 53. The reality star was hospitalized after he suffered a stroke.

Hide Caption

22 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Jennifer Lyon, who appeared on "Survivor: Palau" in 2005, died at her home in Oregon in January 2010. The 37-year-old was diagnosed with breast cancer after her stint on the reality show.

Hide Caption

23 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Frankie Abernathy was a cast member on "The Real World: San Diego," which aired on MTV in 2004. Abernathy, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the lungs and digestive track, was 25 when she died in June 2007.

Hide Caption

24 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

Rachel Brown, a 2006 contestant on "Hell's Kitchen," was found dead of a gunshot wound in her Dallas home in May 2007. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office said Brown's death was ruled a suicide.

Hide Caption

25 of 26

Reality stars we've lost26 photos

In "The Real World: San Francisco," cast member Pedro Zamora shared his struggle with HIV/AIDS. After Zamora, 22, died in November 1994, President Bill Clinton said the Cuban-born reality star "changed the face of HIV and AIDS in America forever."

Hide Caption

26 of 26

Story highlights

Caleb Bankston was a conductor on a coal train for seven months

Bankston was a contestant on last year's "Survivor: Blood vs. Water"

Federal Railroad Administration investigators are on the scene in Alabama

Former "Survivor" contestant Caleb Bankston has died while working on a coal train near Birmingham, Alabama, a railway official told CNN.

Bankston was a conductor on the Alabama Warrior Railway, a job he had held for seven months when Tuesday's accident happened, said Ed McKechnie, an executive vice president for Watco, the railway's parent company.

Bankston, 27, was a contestant on "Survivor: Blood vs. Water" last year, along with his fiance, Colton Cumbie, according the CBS show's website.

"Our prayers continue to be with Caleb and his family," railway Senior Vice President Dan Smith said in a written statement.

The railway began a "safety stand down" Wednesday morning, sending its workers to sessions "to ensure all team members understood that nothing is more important than their safety," the company said.

Federal Railroad Administration investigators were on the tracks Wednesday looking at what caused the accident, according to a railway statement.

"Once completed, our investigation will identify the root cause of the accident, and we will take all appropriate enforcement actions," Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Warren Flatau said.